Enchanced experience from standard program content

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatus are disclosed for enhancing the viewing experience of video content by analyzing the content to determine where enhanced sensory experience events may be appropriate, by identifying devices at the viewing location and devices personal to the viewer that can be controlled to provide an enhanced sensory experience, and by activating those devices in a way that is synchronized with the presentation of the content.

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/628,098, filed Feb. 20, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 13/802,173, filed Mar. 13, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No.8,984,568, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods to provide anenhanced sensory experience while viewing audio or video content byanalyzing the content and sending commands to activate devices at theviewing location or devices personal to the viewer to provide specialeffects as the content is displayed.

Description of the Related Art

Watching a movie involves a viewer receiving sensory experiences: visualwhile watching the images on the presentation device, and auditory whilelistening to the sound coming through the speakers. The audio and videoare typically synchronized so that the sensory experiences togetherenhance the viewing of the movie.

Limited attempts have been made in the past to enhance the sensoryexperience of viewing movies by adding special effects. For example, theSensurround process was developed in the 1970s to enhance the audioexperience during film showings by adding an extended range base forsound effects. The low-frequency sound was more felt than heard andprovided a physical sensation while earthquakes, volcanic eruptions,natural disasters, and airline disasters were being viewed. Anotherexample of enhanced sensory experience was included as part of somemovies in the 1950s and 1960s that augmented the video and audio of themovie with physical special effects directed to the audience. Oneexample of such devices was used in the movie The Tingler,” wherevibrating motors attached to the undersides of theater seats wereactivated at key times during the film. For example, when a monsterappeared to turn to attack the audience, the motors would be activatedto vibrate the seats as a voice shouted at the audience to “scream fortheir lives.”

These kind of enhanced sensory experiences, beyond simple video andaudio, allow viewers to become more immersed and engaged in the movieaction and plot. In the above examples, the timing of the enhancedsensory experience was either integrated into the movie sound track, orperformed by theater operators who activated the enhanced sensorydevices based on visual and audio cues while watching the movie.

BRIEF SUMMARY

A viewer of a movie, or other audiovisual content, may have a moreimmersive, impactful, and enhanced viewing experience if devices aroundthe viewer were activated at appropriate times during the presentationto provide special effects. One embodiment of a system to accomplishthis is disclosed that identifies devices available to provide specialeffects, either devices at the viewing location or devices personal tothe viewer, and the effects these devices can produce. The system alsoanalyzes the presentation content including metadata, text, video, andaudio to determine special effects appropriate for the content, andsends commands to activate the devices to provide these effectssynchronized with the presentation content.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a context diagram describing content providers and contentreceivers.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment the relationship between a content receiver,a viewing experience enhancer and the presentation of content withdevices supporting an enhanced viewing experience.

FIG. 3 shows a detailed diagram of one embodiment of a viewingexperience enhancer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In one embodiment, a system analyzes a video content stream, such as amovie, a television series, a documentary, news, music special orsporting event, to determine additional special effects that wouldenhance the content viewing experience. The video content stream may bedelivered to the viewer though a cable television provider, by asatellite television provider, or through an Internet based streamingvideo provider. The viewer will be watching the video content stream ona display device, such as a television or a computer monitor. The systemis configured to be aware of those devices at the viewing location ordevices personal to a user that can be used to create a special effectto enhance the viewing experience of the content stream. For example, ifa character in a movie opens a door and a burst of cold air comesthrough, the system is configured to activate a fan or air conditionerin the viewing location at the same time the character opens the door.Or, if a phone is about to ring in a television series episode, theviewer's cell phone is called and would also ring.

The video content stream includes audio and video as well as other datathat can also be analyzed and evaluated by the system. The other typesof data include but are not limited to metadata and text informationsuch as closed-caption information, subtitles, and titles.

The system's analysis of the video content may include but is notlimited to: reading metadata within the content stream; parsingclosed-caption information, subtitles, or other text information in thestream; performing image analysis on the video frames or audio analysison the sound track. The system uses this analyzed data to determineappropriate effects that would enhance the viewing experience. Forexample, effects include dimming lights at the viewing location,vibrating a viewer's phone, or other effects that would impact theviewer's environment as the viewer sees a particular scene on thedisplay device.

In some embodiments the system is configured to identify and query theviewing environment and viewers to identify devices at the viewinglocation and those devices personal to the viewers that may be used bythe system to create enhanced sensory effects. The effects are thenmatched up with the effects that could be produced by identifieddevices.

The activation of these devices can be coordinated as the content streamis being presented so that the viewer feels or experiences the effect atthe same time that the viewer sees the content on the display device.Furthermore, these effects can be processed in real time and presentedas the content is streaming, or the content can be preprocessed toidentify the effects in advance so the activation of the devices toprovide the enhanced experience is properly synchronized with thecontent.

Turning to FIG. 1, diagram 400 describes the relationship betweencontent providers 2 and a content receiver 8. Content providers 2 createand distribute video content such as movies, television series,television specials, sports events, documentaries, musical events, andother types of content. Examples of content providers are ABC, NBC, CBS,HBO, Showtime, AMC, and the like. Content providers 2 make the contentavailable through a communication network 6 which may include satellitesystems, cable systems, Internet networks, or over-the-air broadcasting.This content is received by a content receiver 8, which may be a cablesystem box or satellite system set top box that is attached to a displaydevice such as a television or other devices such as a video recorder.Some content receivers are able to record content for later viewing.

FIG. 2 shows diagram 410 as one example of the relationship between acontent receiver 8 and the presentation of the content to the viewer ondisplay device 20 that includes the enhanced viewing experience providedby devices 16 and 18. The content receiver 8 receives the video contentstream such as movies, series, and entertainment specials and sends thatto the viewing experience enhancer 10. In some embodiments, the viewingexperience enhancer may be part of set top box which acts as contentreceiver 8, the viewing experience enhancer 10 may be housed as aseparate system, or the viewing experience enhancer 10 may be integratedinto display device 20. The output of the experience enhancer 10includes the content stream which is sent to display device 20, as wellas commands to devices 16 and 18 that, when activated, provide anenhanced user experience while the content stream is viewed.

These special effects devices that provide an enhanced sensoryexperience may be associated with a viewing location 16, or may bepersonal to a viewer 18.

A viewing location may include a movie theater, a home theater, a livingroom at a family residence, a television room at a campus dorm, or otherroom where people assemble to watch television. An example list ofdevices is shown in box 16, and includes speakers, heating systems, airconditioning systems, blowers, home appliances such as vacuums andblenders, home security, doorbells, phone systems, lighting system, anddevices designed specifically to enhance sensory experiences for contentwhich may include seat buzzers and wind machines. Other examples includearoma machines, strobe lights, haze machines, bubble machines, and thelike. Theaters and home theaters may also include audio mixers,balancers, speakers and subwoofers, as well as special effects-specificdevices such as fog machines, fans, strobe lights, color lights,dimmable lights, sound effect machines for providing sirens or thunderclaps, bubble machines, haze machines, aroma machines, and cryomachines. Special effects devices may also include special seats forviewing content that include buzzers, heaters, coolers, vibrators, waterfeatures, or other stimulating devices. Devices within these seats mayalso include haptic technology which is a tactile feedback technologythat takes advantage of a sense of touch by applying force vibrations ormotions to a viewer in response to a viewer's actions. For example, ifduring a car racing sequence a user leans forward in a chair or grips achair armrest more tightly, that may signal the device to provide morestimulation, such as harder seat vibration.

Viewing location devices within a building or home may also includecurtains that open and shut, blinds that raise and lower, lights thatturn on or off or dim, HVAC systems that can turn on blowers or raiseand lower the temperature of a room, doorbells, exterior lights, burglaralarms that may provide noises or alerts, electric fireplaces, housephone systems, intercom systems, building or home computer controlsystems, entertainment systems that are not connected to thepresentation video and audio system, personal computers or other relateddevices that have video, audio, or other sensory devices attached.Examples of household appliances include dishwashers, blenders, fans,hair dryers, microwave ovens, vacuum cleaners, and the like. Otherappliances may include devices such as radio-controlled toys, robotdevices, and input devices such as Microsoft Kinect.

Viewing location devices may be accessed by a location network 12 thatin one or more embodiments are able to identify the devices within thelocation and determine how to operate those devices in various ways toachieve various effects. There are a number of ways these devices may becontrolled. For example, some home systems integrate lighting, video,audio, set top box receivers, and special effects equipment into asingle integrated system that is accessible through software interfaces.Devices may also be controlled through a number of different networktechnologies, such as Internet protocols, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi,radio-frequency, infrared, and wired building controller systems forautomation using, for example, protocols such as ZigBee, RF4CE,Control4, DLNA, etc. In addition, an increasing number of homes arebuilt for computer controlled devices which provide a way to identifyand control individual appliances such as vacuums, blenders, hairdriers, dishwashers, bread mixers, ovens, and the like from computersconnected via the Internet.

Personal devices include those devices not connected to the locationthat the viewer brings to the location. Typically these devices are onthe viewer's person, such as a cell phone in a pocket, or devices invery close proximity to the viewer such as a tablet in a backpack orpurse. Examples of devices personal to the viewer are shown in block 18and include a viewer's cell phone, smartphone, or tablet which can ring,buzz, play audio, display flashes of light, color, and text to the user;key fobs which can beep or buzz; gamer devices, such as force-feedbackcontrollers that have integrated haptic technology; music players suchas an iPod; viewing glasses such as Google glasses; hats; headphones;vests with sensors or stimulators; and the like.

These devices personal to a viewer may be accessed by the viewer'spersonal communication network 14 which in one or more embodiments maybe able to identify the devices personal to a viewer and how to operatethose devices in various ways to achieve various effects. This networkmay include WiFi, Bluetooth, or cell phone carrier networks.

FIG. 3 shows diagram 420, which is a detailed diagram of one embodimentof a viewing experience enhancer 10. The content stream enters theviewing experience enhancer at 34 which is processed by four differentmodules.

The first module, the metadata analysis module 22, analyzes the contentstream for any metadata tags that describe enhanced sensory experiencesto be used within the content. These metadata tags may be included inthe video stream or in an associated data stream. For example, metadatatags may appear as escape codes within the closed captioning data of thecontent stream. In one embodiment, these tags may include enhancedsensory commands such as: darken room, ring doorbell, ring phone,vibrate seat, simulate to lightning flashes, produce fog for 120seconds, lower temperature 5° in four minutes for 10 minutes then returntemperature to normal, release a pine scent for 20 seconds, and thelike. These commands would later be matched up with the identifiedlocation devices and personal devices available to be controlled duringcontent presentation. In another embodiment, the metadata tags mayinclude specific commands to be sent directly to the availableidentified devices.

The next module is the closed-caption and text analysis module 24. Thismodule examines the content stream and extracts text information thatmay be used to identify enhanced sensory experiences for content events.For example, closed caption text includes dialogue text as well as anytext-based background or context information that describes thepresented scene, which may be in italics. A system to analyze and parsea human-readable tag would look for text clues, for example words suchas “phone ringing”, “gunshot”, “doorbell”, and “wind blowing”.

Specifically, in closed-captioned audio/video presentations, the exactwords that the person is speaking appears as typed text running acrossthe screen at approximately the same time the words are spoken. Forthose movies which are closed-captioned, if there is a sound that is notspoken by an actor, the text for the sound will often be written on thescreen so that a viewer who is deaf or listening with the sound turnedoff knows that a sound has occurred on the screen which affects theaction but was not spoken. For example, if a person is sitting at thetable talking to a friend, in the middle of which a doorbell rings, aclosed-caption presentation will often have the words “doorbell ringing”written in italics in the middle of the spoken conversation, so thatviewers, by reading the text alone, will recognize that a doorbell hasrung in the middle of the person talking. Therefore, they can reasonablyanticipate that the person will stand up and walk to the door, eventhough no other clues have been given other than the closed-captionedtext of “doorbell ringing”. Similar closed-captioned text occurs forother sounds, such as “phone ringing”, to let the viewer know that eventhough the sound is not available, that the actors on the screen heard aphone ringing, which they may choose to ignore, and the fact that aphone was ringing and all the actors on the screen ignored the phone anddid not answer it adds a key element to the drama.

According to this embodiment of the invention, the text is examined forcontent within the closed caption, and if text occurs which is notspoken by an actor but instead indicates an audio event only, then thisis available to the viewing experience enhancer 10 for it to make asimilar sound local to the viewer so they can experience the doorbellringing, the phone ringing, the wind blowing, or some other event.

The purpose of the closed caption is for a person who cannot hear thedialogue, either because they are deaf, the sound is turned off, it is adifferent language, or for some other reason, and it is not its purposeto be analyzed for content and used to enhance the viewing experience.According to the present embodiment, this text which was provided forthe purpose of reading by a user is used for a different purpose, tomodify the local environment around a user to further enhance theviewing experience that is synchronized with the video picturesappearing on the screen.

The system may also analyze background notation describing soundswithout visual cues such as “[thunder]” or “[footsteps]”. The systemwould determine, based on the parsed data, those devices able to deliverthe enhanced sensory experience associated with the event in the contentstream.

Another example of text includes titling or subtitles. An algorithmparses and analyzes the presented text and in one embodiment looks forwords or phrases that suggest an effect for an enhanced viewingexperience. For example, the words “cold,” “freezing,” “chilly,”“snowy,” “Arctic,” “sub zero temperature,” and the like, would indicatethat an enhanced user experience by lowering the temperature at theviewing location can be carried out. In another example, the words“sunset,” “dark,” “nighttime,” and the like would indicate that anenhanced user experience by dimming the lighting at the location,closing a curtain, or playing nighttime sounds can be carried out. Inanother example, the words “someone at the door,” “knocking,” “ringing,”and the like, would indicate someone at the door and would ring thedoorbell at the location, or cause the viewer's smartphone device tomake a doorbell ringing sound.

In another example, explicit text strings to indicate commands to acontroller, either via a human-readable tag, or a “escape” character canbe added to closed caption text. The system may be able to readclosed-caption data prior to the time the closed-caption text ispresented on the screen. This way, commands to devices may be built inadvance into the content stream by scanning the closed-caption tags.This would allow commands to the devices to be sent with enough leadtime so that the optimal effect from the device is properly synchronizedwhen the content stream event is presented.

The Video analysis module 26 uses video analysis and graphics analysistechniques to determine whether to provide enhanced sensory experienceevents based on video indicators. This analysis determines cues based onthe images portrayed or the type of change or rate of change of theimages within the content stream. In one or more embodiments, individualframes are analyzed using pattern analysis and image recognitiontechniques to identify objects that suggest an enhanced sensoryexperience. For example, if the video analysis identifies a scene withsnow or ice on the ground or on roofs of buildings, frosty breath, andactors bundled up, the system may determine that the temperature is coldand request the device controlling temperature at the viewing locationto be turned down, causing the room to feel colder. If the analysisidentifies sweating people, glowing hot objects, deserts, heat waves, orflames to indicate a hot temperature, commands may be sent to a devicecontrolling temperature to turn the temperature up in the viewinglocation. Other examples include identifying fog on the screen, whichwould turn on a fog machine, or recognizing a person answering a cellphone, which may trigger a call to a viewer's cell phone.

In other embodiments, the changes between individual frames would beanalyzed to determine whether certain sensory enhancements would beappropriate. For example, if the tropical scene described above onlylasted for 15 seconds, then warming the viewing location may not beappropriate. In another example, if an outdoor scene got progressivelydarker, that may indicate a sunset which might call for the locationlights to be dimmed or curtains closed. In addition, heuristics may beused to determine changes in screen brightness relative to the lightinglevels in the room and send commands to devices to appropriately adjustroom lighting during the day in a way different than would be adjustedduring the night.

The video analysis module 26 looks at the visual content of the video tobe presented, and performs a heuristic-type analysis of the videocontent in order to identify actions that can be carried out in thelocal environment of the viewer that can be synchronized with the eventson the screen. For example, if the video content shows the lights in theroom being turned off, as may happen just prior to a crime occurring inthe movie, the video analysis module 26 will recognize the lights havesuddenly gone from on to off on the screen, and in synchronism with thelights on the movie screen turning off, will turn off all the lights inthe house, or in some cases just in the room of the display device.Similarly, the video content of the scene changes from stillness to windblowing a flag or trees or other objects, then the fan in the local airconditioning system can be turned on in synchronism with the windblowing, or some other local fan turned on, in order to simulate thatthe wind has started to blow.

These types of cues to provide an enhanced local viewing experience areobtained by examining the video frames of the content to be presented onthe display screen. This video content may be in the form of traditionalmovie format with individual viewable frames, and the video analysismodule examines the analogue data in the frames as they are to bepresented, looking for visual cues that can be matched with a sensoryexperience adjacent the user. Alternatively, the video data stream maybe in a digital format, such as an MPEG-type format which contains thevideo data digitally encoded. The data can be looked at in a digitalform to determine the video which would show on the screen when a screenis driven according to the presented digital video format.

The audio analysis module 28 analyzes the audio stream looking forenhanced sensory experience events indicated by the type of audio andvariations in the audio captured. In some embodiments this analysis mayrecognize specific sounds that are part of the audio stream, which wouldthen be analyzed, or may identify other sounds that may describe thecontext of the scene. For example, a deep rumbling sound may call for avibration in the viewer's chair to simulate an earthquake. Mysteriousmusic, ticking sounds, or even extended periods of silence may indicatea mood of building suspense that may call for a clock to tick loudly,which sound can come from a local cell phone, ringing a doorbell,ringing a cell phone, or turning on a blender or hairdryer to startlethe viewers and enhance their overall content viewing experience.

The output of these four modules is sent to the synchronized integratedenhanced sensory experience with a content stream module 36. This modulefirst takes the enhanced sensory experience events from each module andusing combination techniques creates an integrated enhanced sensoryexperience set for selected events in the content stream. Thesecombination techniques may range in one or more embodiments from simplycombining the events from each module to giving different weights toevents from each module to determine the final set of integrated eventsthat determine the integrated enhanced sensing experience for thecontent stream. Module 36 then synchronizes these final integratedevents with the scenes in the content stream and outputs the contentstream containing the synchronized integrated enhanced sensoryexperiences.

Content stream analysis may be done entirely in advance to determineappropriate device commands that can be synchronized with the contentfor later presentation, or the content presentation delayed to allowcontent stream analysis so that commands can be sent to devices suchthat the devices for effect synchronized with the associated videoevent. For example, the effect of turning lights on and off or ringing adoorbell may be done nearly instantly when the command is issued,whereas changing temperature or introducing fog would require thecommand to be given with more advanced time for the viewer to experiencethe effect at the right time. In one embodiment, the system not onlyidentifies the individual devices available to it, the effects that thedevice can produce, and the commands needed to control the device, butalso understands the lead time for commands sent to each device suchthat the devices activate in the proper order.

In different embodiments, the synchronization of the enhancedexperiences, providing visual, auditory, tactile, and/or smellsensations may be done in different ways to enhance the viewingexperience, for example to create experiences similar to what is beingviewed or to create experiences that heighten the mood of what is beingviewed.

One way to enhance the viewing experience is to create experiencessimilar to what is being viewed. For example, if the movie shows a scenegoing from light to dark in a sunset sequence, the lights within theviewing location may dim or curtains may close. The system could turn ona fog machine if the scene appeared foggy; shake the viewer's seat ifthe scene depicted an earthquake or avalanche; turn on a fireplace ifthe scene depicted a room with a fireplace; lower the temperature in theroom if the scene was in the Antarctic or in a meat locker;

raise the temperature in the room if the scene was in a tropical climateor near a fire; brighten the room lights if the scene is shown in thesun; activate a water feature if a river appears in the scene, and thelike. Also, if the system recognizes a picture of a phone, the viewer'sphone would ring, or if the scene shows somebody at the door, thedoorbell at the viewing location may sound. Other noises, such asbarking dogs, whistles, etc., may be taken from prerecorded sounds thatare on a viewer's smartphone device that plays sounds that are personalto the user. Using sounds or experiences familiar to the user, such as adoorbell ring, phone ring, phone alarm, the cry of the viewer's baby,the bark of the viewer's dog, and the like, may produce a particularlyheightened response while viewing content.

Another way to enhance the viewing experience is to create experiencesthat heighten the mood of what is being viewed. For example, to enhancethe experience of a party, the temperature of the room may be increased,lighting turned up, and floral aromas released. For a horror movie theexperience of being frightened may be heightened by lowering the roomtemperature, turning small noises on randomly around the room, anddarkening the room. The viewing experience may also be heightened byintroducing effects intending to startle viewers, for example by ringinga doorbell during an extended silent part of the content, turning on oroff outside lights, flashing strobe lights or ringing the viewer'sphone. Other startling effects played during particularly suspensefultimes in the movie may include a snapping or cracking through a specialeffects machine, a sound through an alarm system, the sound of barkingdogs, the whirring of a blender, a vibration or shock being sent throughthe viewer's chair, or part of the sound or dialogue of the movie playedthrough the viewer's personal mobile device. In another example, aviewer's cell phone may output a “bang” sound when a scene shows a gunthat is drawn and about to be fired.

In some embodiments, the output consisting of the content stream alongwith the synchronized integrated enhanced sensory experiences isstreamed in real time. In other embodiments, the output is sent to anintegrated enhanced sensory experiences for a content stream database 40where the output is stored for later presentation.

The determine commands to be sent to devices module 46 receives thecontent stream that includes the synchronized integrated enhancedsensing experiences, and translates these experiences into specificcommands to be sent to devices over network 12 at the viewing location,or to devices over network 14 that are personal to the viewer. Module46, in one or more embodiments, queries the viewing location devicesdatabase 42 and the personal viewer device database 44 to get theaddresses, activation commands, capability, and type of effect for eachidentified device which can be used to enhance the user's viewingexperience. The database 42 which contains the viewing location devicescan be obtained or organized by a number of different techniques. In oneembodiment, the home may have a computer-controlled HVAC system as wellas a computer-controlled lighting system which monitors and controls allthe lights in the house. The module 46 to determine devices to be drivencan be plugged into the home computer, and the home computer queried todetermine which devices in the local environment it controls. For a homewhich includes a highly sophisticated computer control network, thecentral computer may be connected to a number of appliances, includingrefrigerators, ovens, blenders, fans, as well as to the lights, thegarage door opener, the windows (whether to open or close them), theblinds on the windows, vacuum cleaners, as well as a number of otherproducts and appliances in the home.

Another source of the database for viewing location devices is thesubscriber information with the cable network. For example, when a usersigns up for cable TV, satellite TV, or other services, they are almostalways required to provide a phone number at which they can be contactedand also provide a phone number through which data information can beshared as part of the cable TV system; for example, making payments on apay-per-view movie, ordering certain video content, or the like. Inaddition, the subscriber to a cable TV system, satellite TV system orthe like, frequently provides an Internet address and a home address.This information is all part of the subscriber database which isavailable to the content provider 2, the communication network, thecontent receiver 8, or other components in the system. The viewinglocation database will therefore have in it the phone number which thesubscriber provided when they signed up for the system, along with alarge amount of additional data. This phone number can be used to be thephone number which is rung when a signal comes forward during a film.

Another technique for assembling the viewer database 42 may be toprovide queries to the user at a particular location. When the system isbeing set up at a user location, the software may query to the user theidentity of any electronic control systems, computers, telephones, orother environmental control systems in the home or viewing area. Theuser can input this data to the content receiver 8 or the viewingexperience enhancer 10 in order to populate the viewing locationdatabase 42. It may also connect an Internet connection to the viewingexperience enhancer 10 which has access to the computer in the home aswell as access to any telephone lines, security systems, or the like.For example, the viewing location database 42 may be coupled to acomputer which is connected to and controls the security system for thehome. When the movie reaches a location in which an intruder breaks intothe home, the viewing experience enhancer 10 will send a signal to thesecurity system of the home to output an alarm that corresponds to thatwhich would be provided if an intruder broke into the home at thatmoment, which may include such responses as a flashing light, a loudbell ringing, a telephone call to various locations, turning off alllights in the home, or any other type of response that a security systemmight make when an intruder has been sensed to have broken into thehome.

Module 46 then matches the desired enhanced sensory effect with thecommand needed to activate the appropriate device to provide thateffect. In some embodiments, if the content is being presented in realtime, module 46 will use heuristics to determine when a command shouldbe sent to what device for the effect of that device to be properlysynced with the content. In other embodiments, module 46 is able to lookahead to the enhanced sensory experience cues in the content and timeeach device command so that it synchronizes with the contentpresentation. In some embodiments this look ahead may be the length ofthe delay of the content, in the order of 5 to 30 seconds. In otherembodiments, the module may look ahead through the entire content.

The synchronized commands are then sent to the send commands module 48,where commands to devices at the viewing location are sent through thelocation network 12, and the commands to devices personal to a viewerare sent through the viewers personal communication network 14. Commandsto devices sent through the location network in some embodiments mayinclude commands to devices controlled through Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RF4CE,ZigBee, HomePlug, DNLA, and the like. Commands to devices sent throughthe viewer's personal communication network may include commands todevices controlled through Wi-Fi, cell phone provider networks, or otherproprietary networks. In one or more embodiments, the viewers at thelocation are able to enable or disable devices used to create anenhanced viewing experience.

The various embodiments described above can be combined to providefurther embodiments. Aspects of the embodiments can be modified, ifnecessary to employ concepts of the various patents, applications andpublications to provide yet further embodiments.

These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of theabove-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, theterms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specificembodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should beconstrued to include all possible embodiments along with the full scopeof equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, theclaims are not limited by the disclosure.

1. A method, comprising: receiving, by a receiving device, a contentstream including at least one of audio and video content; providing thecontent stream for presentation on a primary device; analyzing thecontent stream to identify enhanced sensory experience contentcorresponding with a portion of the content stream; determining anenhanced sensory experience effect associated with the identifiedenhanced sensory experience content; accessing a viewing locationdevices database to identify addresses, activation commands and enhancedsensory experience capabilities of one or more secondary devices;identifying a secondary device among the one or more secondary devicescapable of providing the determined enhanced sensory experience effect;and activating the identified secondary device to provide the identifiedenhanced sensory experience effect in synchronization with thepresentation of the corresponding portion of the content stream on theprimary device.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein analyzing the contentstream to identify enhanced sensory experience content includes:analyzing metadata within the content stream.
 3. The method of claim 1wherein analyzing the content stream to identify enhanced sensoryexperience content includes: analyzing closed caption and other textwithin the content stream.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein analyzingthe content stream to identify enhanced sensory experience contentincludes: analyzing video content within the content stream.
 5. Themethod of claim 1 wherein analyzing the content stream to identifyenhanced sensory experience content includes: analyzing audio contentwithin the content stream.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein analyzingthe content stream to identify enhanced sensory experience contentincludes: displaying the content stream on the primary device; andanalyzing the content stream substantially simultaneously with thedisplaying of the content stream.
 7. The method of claim 1 whereinanalyzing the content stream to identify enhanced sensory experiencecontent includes: analyzing the content stream before displaying thecontent stream on the primary device; and displaying the content streamon the primary device.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:determining a second enhanced sensory experience effect associated withthe identified enhanced sensory experience content; identifying anothersecondary device among the one or more secondary devices capable ofproviding the determined second enhanced sensory experience effect; andactivating the identified another secondary device to provide theidentified second enhanced sensory experience effect in synchronizationwith the presentation of the corresponding portion of the content streamon the primary device.
 9. A receiving device, comprising: a contentanalysis module configured to analyze a received a content streamincluding at least one of audio and video content and identify enhancedsensory experience content corresponding with a portion of the contentstream; and an enhanced sensory experience module configured to: providethe content stream to a primary device for presentation; determine anenhanced sensory experience effect associated with the identifiedenhanced sensory experience content; access a viewing location devicesdatabase to identify addresses, activation commands and enhanced sensoryexperience capabilities of one or more secondary devices; identify asecondary device among the one or more secondary devices capable ofproviding the determined enhanced sensory experience effect; andactivate the identified secondary device to provide the identifiedenhanced sensory experience effect in synchronization with thepresentation of the corresponding portion of the content stream on theprimary device.
 10. The receiving device of claim 9 wherein the primarydevice is a television, and the receiving device is included within theprimary device.
 11. The receiving device of claim 9 wherein thereceiving device comprises a set top box.
 12. The receiving device ofclaim 9 wherein the viewing location devices database is stored in thereceiving device.
 13. The receiving device of claim 9 wherein thecontent analysis module includes a text analysis module configured toreceive the content stream, and to decode and analyze at least one ofclosed-caption text, on-screen text, titles, and other text containedwithin the content stream to identify the enhanced sensory experiencecontent corresponding with a portion of the content stream.
 14. Thereceiving device of claim 9 wherein the content analysis module includesa video analysis module configured to receive the content stream, and toanalyze video content within the content stream to identify the enhancedsensory experience content corresponding with a portion of the contentstream.
 15. The receiving device of claim 9 wherein the content analysismodule includes an audio analysis module configured to receive thecontent stream, and to analyze audio content within the content streamto identify the enhanced sensory experience content corresponding with aportion of the content stream.
 16. A non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium containing instructions that, when executed by aprocessor of a receiving device, cause the receiving device to: receivea content stream including at least one of audio and video content;provide the content stream for presentation on a primary device; analyzethe content stream to identify enhanced sensory experience contentcorresponding with a portion of the content stream; determine anenhanced sensory experience effect associated with the identifiedenhanced sensory experience content; access a viewing location devicesdatabase to identify addresses, activation commands and enhanced sensoryexperience capabilities of one or more secondary devices; identify asecondary device among the one or more secondary devices capable ofproviding the determined enhanced sensory experience effect; andactivate the identified secondary device to provide the identifiedenhanced sensory experience effect in synchronization with thepresentation of the corresponding portion of the content stream on theprimary device.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumof claim 16 wherein the instructions cause the receiving device toanalyze the content stream at least in part by decoding and analyzing atleast one of closed-caption text, on-screen text, titles, and other textcontained within the content stream to identify the enhanced sensoryexperience content corresponding with a portion of the content stream.18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16wherein the instructions cause the receiving device to analyze thecontent stream by analyzing at least one of video content and audiocontent within the content stream to identify the enhanced sensoryexperience content corresponding with a portion of the content stream.19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor of thereceiving device, further cause the receiving device to: determine asecond enhanced sensory experience effect associated with the identifiedenhanced sensory experience content; identify another secondary deviceamong the one or more secondary devices capable of providing thedetermined second enhanced sensory experience effect; and activate theidentified another secondary device to provide the identified secondenhanced sensory experience effect in synchronization with thepresentation of the corresponding portion of the content stream on theprimary device.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumof claim 16 wherein the instructions cause the receiving device toanalyze the content stream to identify the enhanced sensory experiencecontent before the content stream is presented on the primary device.